Susan G: “Push & Pull”- an absorbing musical arrangement

May 12, 2018

Simply writing a great song just isn’t enough for Susan G, who has always fashioned herself as a storyteller who happens to tell her stories through music. If she isn’t getting you wrapped up in some fascinating character or bewitching setting then she isn’t doing her job. With her brand new single “Push & Pull”, the Seattle-based singer-songwriter once more succeeds in her intent, although she has now firmly moved out of the shadier exclusive niches and into the brighter lights of modern mainstream appeal, where the occasionally glossy instrumentation can be just as essential to musical narrative as lyrics.

On the aptly-titled new single, beautifully captivating chords slowly accelerate into swirling whisks of enveloping elegance via electronically treated pads and strings, accompanied by the slam of a thudding drum, the result is genuinely wonderful.

The verses are fantastic and both the intro and outro of the song is mesmerizingly charming, but the soaring choruses win it all with gorgeous instrumentation and yearningly resonating vocals: “Tell me again, tell me again, this won’t hurt tonight.Tell me again, tell me again, why you think you’re right.”

It fully demonstrates the new direction Susan G has taken with her sound. As an expert songwriter but also an incredibly gifted storyteller, Susan G once again delivers a song full of meaningful lyricism, an alluring melody, and an absorbing musical arrangement.

I don’t know how she does it, but Susan G manages to blow expectations away to some degree with each song she constructs. “Push & Pull” is a compelling mixture of everything Susan G has done so well in the past, but with a new layer of sound spurting out of the sleek production.

This recording is a vibrant, highly polished and finely tuned continuation of the singer-songwriter’s creative flair, and it’s hard not to get swept away by its powerful current. Merging the cerebral with the accessible, Susan G shows us the beauty and majesty of the world a singer-songwriter can inhabit, regardless of the genre tag.

And when Susan G showcases her talents in stately and commanding terms – as she does on “Push & Pull” – entertainment and inspiration burst forth in equal measure. The sensation is intensely effective and provides an exquisite variance of listening euphoria.

Lyrically the song cuts as deep as intended, while the compositional movement, melodic simplicity and catchiness resonate poignantly throughout, ready to entrance the radio overlords. It’s just so fascinating to hear her evolution as an artist.